


The Lucky Shorts

by RobinsSpell



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:14:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24134173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinsSpell/pseuds/RobinsSpell
Summary: Sojiro’s rewards to his ward for doing well in school always seemed kind of weird, but none were as weird as this.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto, Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 7
Kudos: 59





	The Lucky Shorts

Sojiro Sakura was lost in thought. It was a quiet December’s day at Leblanc and the cafe was as empty as usual. Feeling bored, the elderly man was currently idling his time away on this week’s crossword puzzle. “What the hell is a ‘sweating sickness’!?” He had spent the past 15 minutes agonizing over the clue for the last word of his puzzle and was about ready to throw in the towel before the sharp jingle of the bell hanging above the door to his cafe rang out, alerting him to someone’s prescence. Looking up, he recongized the lanky form of his ward, Ren Amamiya, returning from school.

“Ah, you’re back,” greeted Sojiro, returning his gaze to his puzzle. “How was school?” It had been a while since Ren had led his friends on a mission to change Shido’s heart; successfully, at that, and now that they were certain that no one would be after his head, his ward had begun attending school again.

“Tiring,” sighed Ren, moving behind the counter, laying his bag atop it and grabbing a few jars of coffee beans. “Exams are over, at least, so I can finally relax.”

“Oh right, you came back to school just in time for your finals,” Sojiro chuckled at the timing. From the year he spent observing the boy, he knew that there was nothing to worry about regarding his ward’s grades, but he still felt the urge to check in, curious about how Ren’s month-long sabbatical had affected his studies. “How do you think you did?”

“I’d be shocked if I did any less than perfectly,” smirked the boy, who was currently weighing out a precise amount of beans.

“Oh? Someone’s confident for a guy who hasn’t been to school for a whole month.”

“Yeah, well, there’s not a whole lot to do when you’re dead, so I ended up studying a lot. Makoto was very insistent on making sure I kept up with my homework too.” Having begun to grind out the beans, Ren stopped, suddenly remembering something. “Oh right, Makoto’s coming by in a bit. Now that exams are over, we decided to take it easy for tonight and watch movies.”

Sojiro smirked. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride when it came to that boy and his little girlfriend. “Is that so? Sounds like you have it all planned out tonight,” said the man before a rather devillish idea hit him. “Oh, right, I have something for you.” Sojiro got up and walked behind the counter to dig something out from underneath, much to Ren’s confusion. He kept a few things hidden away underneath the counter when the rare opportunity to play a joke on someone arose.

“What’s this about, Boss?”

“Think of it as a reward for your good grades,” Sojiro found what he was rifling around for; a folded white cloth adorned with pink polka dots that he promptly presented to his ward. “Here you go, kid.”

Ren was even more confused. Taking the bundle, he unfurled it. It felt rather soft to the touch and kind of stretchy. Holding up the unfolded cloth, he could see it was a pair of shorts. The color began to drain from Ren’s face. “Boss... what did you just-“

“Those are my lucky shorts, kid. When I was your age, hoo boy,” Sojiro began to trail off, reminiscing.

“Gah!” Ren suddenly flung the shorts over the counter, much to Sojiro’s amusement. It was rare seeing the kid flustered like this and he was going to savor every moment. “Boss, what the fuck!?”

“How rude!” Sojiro feigned disappointment. “I figured you deserved a nice night with your lady after your hard work,” the man chuckled. “Lemme tell ya, the nights I wore those, I felt like I could just keep on going and going, even after I’d normally be tapped out.”

“Euuuugh!” Ren was recoiling in disgust. “I don’t wanna hear that, Boss! And why were you keeping those here!?” Ren’s flurry of questions was cut short as the bell rang out again, signaling the arrival of another visitor. Ren looked over and immediately turned pale upon seeing the face of his beloved, Makoto Niijima.

“Well, I think that’s my cue to get out of here for the night,” Sojiro took off his apron and draped it over the cash register. “Enjoy yourselves,” the man bid farewell to the two teens, winking at the boy before walking out the door himself, being sure to flip the OPEN sign as he left.

“Good evening, Ren, sorry I’m late,” Makoto bowed slightly. Ren would have found the sight adorable as usual if he weren’t still reeling from his guardian’s gift. This was not lost on the girl, who had noticed the look of dread and unease on her boyfriend’s face. “Are you alright? What happened?” Makoto began walking towards him to try and comfort him before stepping on something foreign. She looked down and saw the front of her boot caught on a white rag with pink polka dots. She reached down to inspect it closer. Holding it up, she could see that they were a soft pair of shorts. “Ren... what are these?”

“Those are...” Ren trailed off, not wanting to continue, which only served to pique the girl’s curiosity.

“Come again?”

“...Sojiro’s lucky shorts...” He mumbled his response, low enough that Makoto couldn’t make out what he said.

“Excuse me?” She sat down at the bar in front of her beau, shorts in hand.

Ren took a deep breath, steeling himself. “...Those are Sojiro’s lucky shorts.” His girlfriend’s eyes went wide at the admission.

“WHAAAAAT!?” Instinctively, Makoto shot up off the bar stool and chucked the shorts in a random direction.

“Agh, no get it off!” The direction she had chosen was directly in front of her; the shorts landing square on Ren’s face. Makoto gasped as her boyfriend panicked, throwing the shorts in the direction of the door. He took a few breaths before beginning to fill the kitchen sink.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry Ren! Are you ok!?” Makoto rushed to her boyfriend’s side as the water filled up half of the sink. Ren wordlessly began dumping soap in the basin, swirling the water until there was foam above the top of the sink. Without warning, he then plunged his head directly into the water, resurfacing before too long.

“I feel like I’ll never be clean again,” Ren admitted after grabbing a towel - that he made absolutely sure was NOT the accursed shorts - and drying himself off.

“Why are those even here in the first place!?” Makoto turned to look at the shorts, a disgusted grimace forming on her face.

“Those were my reward for doing well on the exams...” Ren dunked himself in the water again, feeling unclean for even saying that.

“Eww!” Makoto couldn’t help her disgust.

“The chief says they have a special power!” Morgana popped out of Ren’s bag, oblivious to the disgust on his teammates’ faces. “He says they help him last a bit longer for long nights, so maybe we could use them in the Metaverse!” The thought made the color drain from the two teens.

“We CANNOT ask any of our friends to wear these!” Makoto was burying her face in her palms.

“Who would even wear these!?” Ren took a seat, trying to stabilize himself.

“Well, logic dictates that it should go to someone who we can’t afford to have fall in battle,” explained the cat. “The most important members of our group are you two, so I say it should be either of you guys!”

“I think I’m going to be sick...” Makoto took a seat beside Ren.

“Hell no!” Ren refused to entertain the thought any further before a lightbulb went off in his head. Turning to his girlfriend, he began speaking. “Hey Makoto, don’t you think those would go great on our most fragile fighter?”

Makoto was quick to catch on, and her usual feistiness began to return. “Why, I do believe you’re correct!” She began glaring at Morgana, annoyance that the cat would even suggest that she don those horrid shorts making itself known upon her face.

“Wh-what are you guys looking at me for?” Morgana began to feel a deep and primal fear from his very core. He instinctively shrank back into the bag as the girl rose up out of her stool and came closer. “Yeow!” Morgana’s attention had been transfixed on Makoto that he completely failed to notice Ren slipping around to the other side, hoisting the cat up in the air by the scruff. As he futilely flailed about, trying to wrest himself free of Ren’s grasp, Makoto suddenly came up to the two of them, shorts in hand. “Guys wait, stop, don’t do this! Noooooooooo!”

——

“Sojiro! I hungerrrrr!” Moaned Futaba.

“Calm down Futaba, dinner’s just about ready,” Sojiro was plating up a katsu sandwich for his adopted daughter. He smirked, thinking about the joke he played on his ward earlier. “Here you go,” he said, placing the plate in front of the girl.

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Futaba was curious about the smirk on Sojiro’s face.

“Oh, just thinking about a joke from earlier...” Sojiro trailed off as Futaba began wolfing down the sandwich.

“Oh, dofh fhrgt tht ere avignh a pahrta tomroh!” Futaba exclaimed with a mouth full of food.  
“Hey, swallow before you speak!” Chided Sojiro.

“Sowy!” Futaba took a big gulp. “Don’t forget that we’re having a party tomorrow for Christmas Eve!”

“Oh, right! I should probably tell him before the party, huh...” Sojiro put his hand to his beard in thought.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, nothing, just enjoy your dinner.”

**Author's Note:**

> I had a different idea for a collection of pieces revolving around Sojiro listening to problems and giving advice, but then I found out about his reward for you if you ace your December exams and this happened instead. I’ll probably revisit the other idea at some point, but this was too good to pass up.


End file.
